Transmission control



Aug. 25, 1936. T. F. THOMPSON 2,051,917

TRANSMISSION CONTROL Filed July 1, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

5 5 hag-g ATTORNEY.

Filed July 1, 1935 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIIIIIIIIIIIII'IIIII INVENTOR. 12172207222080 ATTORNEY.

ually placing the transmission in Patented Aug. 25 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC 7 Claims.

The principal object of my invention is to provide an easy actuatable control mechanism for automotive vehicle transmissions and although the same may be successfully used in conjunction with all multiple speed transmissions it is particularly designed for use with a transmission such as disclosed in my co-pending application ona Semi-automatic positive transmission, filed January 16, 1935, Serial No. 2047.

A further object of my invention is to provide a transmission control that will, after the transmission has been placed in low gear, progressively place the transmission to which it is attached in intermediate and then into high gear by the mere actuating of the vehicle foot carburetor feed.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a transmission control that either increases or decreases the gear ratio of the transmission as and when desired by the operator of the vehicle.

A still further object of -my invention is to provide a semi-automatic transmission control that is always under the definite control of the operator of the vehicle, is economical in :manufacture, and durable in use.

These and other objects will be those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth,

apparent to pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the on and with certain sections cut away and taken on line 3S of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the governor usedin my transmission control.

Fig. 5 is a rear end view of a portion of my control for positively holding a transmission in definite predetermined speeds.

Fig. 6 is a rear end view of a portion of themanually controlled part of myzdevice for man neutral, low, or reverse".

Referring to each of the figures in detail, I have used the numeral Hi to designate the housing of a transmission. Extending into this housing is the usual drive shaft ll designed to be operatively connected to a prime mover. The numeral l2 designates the driven shaft exiting from the transmission inside the transmission 5 housing It. Such transmissions are usually found in automotivevehicles with the shaft- H connected to the motor and the shaft l2 operatively connected to the traction wheels.

All such automotive vehicles have a clutch l0 pedal IS, a carburetor foot feed pedal it, with a rod I5 extending to the carburetor and an instrument board It. Practically all transmissions now being used have a "neutral, low, intermediate", high, and reverse gear. In the 15 drawings, I have used the numeral i! to designate the low actuating element of the transmission, the numeral l8 to designate the reverse actuating element of the transmission, the numeral Hi to designate the intermediate" actuating element of the transmission, and the numeral 20 to designate the high. actuating element of the transmission. The elements I! and I8 have their upper ends loosely embracing the shaft 2| and are moved forwardly or rearwardly by cams 22 rigidly secured to the shaft 2| and which are operated by the rotation of the shaft 2|. The elements 20 and 2| have their upper ends rotatably and slidably mounted on the shaft 23 and are reciprocated rearwardly L or forwardly by having cam grooves slidably engaging pins 24 on the shaft 23 when the shaft 23 is rotated. Obviously, any desired method of having the shafts 2| and 23 actuate the transmission may be used with certain positions of rotation of the shafts placing the transmission in neutral. In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the transmission is shown in neutra gear. I will now explain the parts and operation or my control as applied to such a transmission, its auxiliary parts, andcertain of the control .parts of the vehicle having the transmission. The numeral 25 designates a downwardly extending arm having its upper end. rigidly secured to the shaft 2i. The numeral 26 designates a flexible cable having one end connected to the lower end portion oi the member 25 and its other end connected to the push-and-pull" hand lever 27, as shown in the drawings.

By this arrangement when the manually actuated handle member 21 is in a position as shown in Fig. 1 the shaft 2i will be in a position as shown inFig. 2'and the transmission will be in'a condition of neutral. The elements I I and I8 and cam members 22 are so positioned. on-the shaft 2| and in relation to each other, however, that when the handle member 21 is manually pulled completely to the rear the shaft 2| will be rotated to the right, thereby moving the element I1 and placing the transmission in low" gear, and when the handle member 21 is forced completely forwardly'the shaft 2| will be rotated to'the left, thereby moving the element I8 and.

placing the transmission in reverse gear. By moving the handle member 21 half way in or half way out the member 25 will be in a position as shown in Fig. 6 and the elements I1 and I8 will be reciprocated to a position as shown in Fig. 2, and the transmission will be in neutral.

I have used the numeral 28 to designate my governor housing. The numeral 29 designates the governor shaft rotatably mounted in the governor housing and extending into the housing III of the transmission. The numeral 30 designates a worm gear splined on the shaft I2. 'I'henumeral 3| designates a driven worm gear rigidly secured on the shaft 29 and in engagement with the worm gear 30. By this construction when the shaft I I is rotating and the transmission is not in neutral" gear, the rotating shaft l2 will rotate the governor shaft 29. The numeral 32 designates the base portion of my governor rigidly secured on the shaft 29 and inside the governor housing 28. The

numeral 33 designates governor weights each pivoted between their two ends to the governor portion 32 as shown in Fig. 4. The free and weighted ends of these members 33- are yieldingly held in a contracted position and toward each other by coil springs 34.

The numeral 35 designates a sleeve slidably and rotatably mounted on the shaft 29 and inside the governor housing. The numeral 36 designates a peripheral groove in the sleeve 35. This groove is operatively engaged by the fixed or non-weighted ends of each of the members 33, as shown in Fig. 4. From this, itwill readily be seen that when the shaft 29 is rotated the weighted ends of the members 33 will move outwardly by centrifugal force and against the action of the springs 34 and move the sleeve 35 toward the fixed portion 32 of the governor. The amount of reciprocation of the sleeve 35 will be in direct ratio to the speed of rotation of the shaft 29 provided there is nothing to interfere with its reciprocatiqn. If the shaft 29 is not rotating the springs 34 will close the governor and thereby move the sleeve 35 away from the member 32 to a position shown in Fig. 4.

The numeral 31 designates a plate member rigidly connected on the shaft 23. This member 31 has three closely positioned circular depressions 38, 39, and 43 in its periphery as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 5. This member 31 also has a flat portion 4| on its periphery in close proximity to the depression 40. The numeral 42 designates a hook portion on the periphery of the member 31 in close proximity to the flat portion 4|, as shown in Fig. 5. The numeral 43 designates a hook lug rigidly secured on the shaft 2| and capable of engaging the flat portion 4| and hook portion 42 of the member 31 at times when the shaft 2| is rotated to the left. The numeral 44 designates a second peripheral groove in the sleeve 35. The numeral 45 designates an arm pivotally mounted near its center and having its lower end operatively engaging the peripheral groove 44. The numeral 46 designates a link having one end pivoted to the upper end of the arm 45 and its other end pivoted to the face of the member 31 at a point in a plane below the plane of the shaft 23, as-shown in Fig. 3.

By this arrangement when the sleeve 35 is reciprocated the shaft 23 will be accordingly ro-- tated. The elements I9 and 20 are so positioned on the shaft 23 and so engage the members 24 that when the shaft 23 is rotated to the right from its position shown in Fig. 3 the element l9 wi l first place the transmission in intermediate gear and by further rotation of the shaft 23 the element 29 will place the transmission in high gear. The numeral 41 designates a bearing member. The numeral 48 designates a shaft slidably mounted in the bearing member 41. The numeral 49 designates a wheel rotatably mounted on one end of the shaft 48 capable of entering and engaging any oneof the depressions 38, 39, or 40.,

The numeral 50 designates a coil spring having one end engaging the bearing member 41 and its other end operatively engaging the shaft 48 for yieldingly holding the wheel 49 in one of the depressions 38, 39, or 48. Obviously, with the wheel 49 so held in engagement with any one of these depressions the member 31 will be held against rotation. The numeral 5| designates an angle arm pivotally mounted near its center and having one of its ends pivotally attached to the end of the shaft 48 opposite from the wheel 49. The numeral 52 designates a crank arm rotatably mounted near its center and having one of its ends capable of being engaged by the carburetor foot feed lever I4, as shown in Fig. 1. The numeral 53 designates a connecting rod having one end pivoted to the other end of the crank arm 52 and its other end pivoted to the outer end of the angle arm 5|, as shown in Fig. 2. By using a foot feed lever as shown in Fig. 1, with 3 its center portion pivotally secured and its upper end operatively secured to the carburetor, the crank arm 52 may be so positioned that the lower end portion of the lever I4 is capable of engaging the crank arm.

When this construction is used, by the mere movement of the lower end of the lever I4 forwardly the crank arm 52 will be actuated and the shaft 48 will be moved outwardly away from the transmission and the wheel 49 out of engagement with any of the depressions 38, 39, or 40. The numeral 54 designates a flexible element having one end connected to the outer end of the angle arm 5| and its other end connected to the clutch pedal I3. By moving the clutch pedal I3 forwardly the action and result will be identical to that caused by the forward movement of the lower end of the foot feed pedal I4. However, by the member 54 being flexible either the clutch pedal or foot feed pedal will operate independently of the other in moving the wheel 49 out of engagement with the depressions in the member 31.

The practical operation of the control is as follows: The transmission is first placed in low hicle under motion in low gear the upper end of the foot feed pedal I4 is pushed forwardly by the foot of the operator of the vehicle and as long as this condition exists the wheel 43 will prevent sion is in intermediate the rotation of the member 31 by the action of the governor. However, to place the transmission in intermediate gear it is merely necessary to release this forward pressure on the foot feed pedal, thereby bringing the lower end of the foot feed pedal into engagement with the crank arm 32. This moves the wheel 49 away from and out of engagement with the depression 38.

As the transmission has been in low the rotation of the shaft I! will be such that the governor will partially expand, thereby sliding the sleeve 35 away from the transmission which will, through the members and 46, rotate the member 31 and shaft 23 to a position where the depression 39 will be in front of the wheel 49 and the shaft 23 will place the transmission in intermediate. By again forcing the upper end of the foot feed lever forwardly and out of engagement with the crank arm 52, the spring 50 will move the wheel 49 into engagement with the depression 39, thereby preventing any further rotation of the member 31 or shaft 23. This condition will continue until the operator lets up again on the foot feed pedal 'and actuates the crank arm 52. As the transmission has been in intermediategear the rotation of the shaft IE will be greater than when the transmission was in low gear and the tendency of the governor will be to completely expand, thereby moving the sleeve 35 completely away from the transmission and thereby rotating the member 31 and shaft 23 to positions where the depression 40 will be in.

front of the wheel 49 and the shaft 23 to a position where the transmission is in high gear. By again pressing the upper end of the carburetor foot feedpedal downwardly the wheel 49 will be permitted to enter the depression 40 and as long as the foot feed pedal is held to such a position out of engagement with the crank arm 52 the member 31 and shaft 23 will be held against rotation and the transmission definitely and positively held in high gear. The governor mechanism and members 45, 46, and 31 are so adjusted and arranged relative. to each other that when the device is not functioning the depression 38 will be in front of the wheel 49 as shown in Fig. 3, when the transmission is in low gear and the vehicle motor is accelerated the depression 39, if not prevented by the wheel 49, will be in front of the wheel 49, and when the transmisgear and the vehicle motor is accelerated the depression 40, if not prevented by the wheel 49, will be in front of the wheel 49. From this, it will be seen that the governor mechanism by being connected to the shaft i2 will automatically tend to place the member 31 in proper position for the proper gear ratio from the transmission. An important feature is that the depressions 38, 39, and. it are circular depressions and are close together so that there is no danger of the wheel le getting centered on the member 31 between any of the depressions. If the governor mechanism does not have any directly in front of the wheel 33, the wheel will tend to enter the depression that is the closest to it and the spring 53 will force the wheel into the depression, thereby rotating the member 31 to the proper position.

When the transmission is in high gear or intermediate gear and it is desired for the transmission to go into a lower gear it is merely necessary to release the forward pressure ofthe foot on the upper portion of the foot feed pedal.-

This results in two actions, i. e., the vehicle gear - ticularly desirable for one of the depressions 3d, or 43 motor is slowed down to a minimum and the wheel 49 is moved away from the member 31. With the motor turning over slowly the governor mechanism will be correspondinglyslowed down and the springs 34 will contract the governor, thereby rotating the member 31 and placing the transmission into a lower gear ratio. If the transmission were originally in high gear'andthe vehicle motor were slowed down sufiiciently the member 31 will be rotated to a position where the depression 39 is in front of the wheel as and the shaft 23 will be in a neutral position and the transmission will be in low gear. By again forcing the upper end of the foot feed pedal downwardly the spring 50 will move the wheel is into the depression in front of it and the transmission will be definitely held in such gear ratio until the foot feed pedal is again released.

From this, it will be seen that the transmission will always be in at least low gear once the hand lever 21 has been pulled to the rear and that the transmission can be stepped up to intermediate gear or high gear or back from high gear to intermediate gear or low gear merely by the actuating of the foot feed pedal It. Such a transmission controlis almost automatic in operation and it is unnecessary to remove the hands from the steering wheel of the vehicle for the shifting of the gears as above described,

member 43 will be moved into engagement withthe flat portion 4i and hook portion 42 of the member 31, thereby preventing its rdtation so long as the transmission is in reverse gear.

In many instances it will be desirable to permit the transmission to a lower gear ratio when the clutch pedal is depressed. This happens in traffic driving and go from a higher gear ratio to when it is desired to completely stop the vehicle.

For this reason I have provided a flexible cable 54 extending from the arm 5| to the clutch pedal. By such an arrangement it is merely necessary to push downwardly on the clutch pedal and if the vehicle is moving very slowly or is stopped, the transmission will be automatically placed in low" gear in order is again released the transmission will be in low" gear for getting the vehicleagain under motion.

Although I have described my invention as par vehicle transmissions, ob viously it can be used on various other types of transmissions.

that when the clutch pedal Some changes may be made in the construction.

and arrangement of my improved transmission control without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover'by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonab y included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In combination with a three-speed transmission having a low gear ratio, an intermediate gear ratio, a "high gear ratio, and a "reverse gear ratio, a control mechanism comprising a shaft operatively connected to said "low lar depressions in its periphery,

gear ratio and said reverse gear of said transmission, a manually actuatable element operatively connected to said shaft, a rotatably mounted shaft operatively connected to said intermediate gear ratio and said high gear ratio of said transmission, an element on said rotatably mounted shaft having a plurality of depressions, a slidably mounted-shaft having one end capable of operatively engaging any one of said depressions in said last-mentioned element, a means for yieldingly holding said slidably mounted shaft in operative engagement with any one of said depressions in said element for the prevention of rotation of said rotatably mounted shaft, an actuatable means for sliding said slidably mounted shaft out of operative engagement with said depressions in said element at times, a governor mechanism operatively connected to said transmission, and a means for operatively connecting said governor mechanism to said element on said rotatably mounted shaft.

2. In combination with an automotive vehicle having a foot feed pedal and a transmission of low, intermediate and high" gears, a manually actuatable means for placing said transmission into or out of low gear, a rotatably mounted shaft operatively connected to said transmission for moving said transmission into or out of intermediate and high gear, a plate element secured to said shaft having circular depressions in its periphery, a slidably mounted shaft, a wheel on one end of said shaft capable of entering any one of said circular depressions, a spring means for yieldingly holding said wheel into engagement with any one of said circular depressions, a means for connecting said slidably mounted shaft to the foot feed pedal of said vehicle, governor mechanism operatively connected to said transmission, a movable element operatively connected to said governor mechanism capable of being moved by and relative to the speed of said governor mechanism, and a means for connecting said last-mentioned element to said plate element.

3. In combination with an automotive vehicle having a foot feed pedal, a clutch pedal, and a transmission of low, intermediate and high gears, a manually actuatable means for placing said transmission into or out of low gear, a rotatably mounted shaft operatively connected to said transmission for moving said transmission into or out of intermediate" and high gear, a plate element secured to said shaft having circua slidably mounted shaft, a wheel on one end of said shaft capable of entering any one of said circular depressions, a spring means for yieldingly holding said wheel into engagement with any one of said '4 circular depressions, a means for connecting said slidably mounted shaft to said foot feed pedal and said clutch pedal of said vehicle, governor mechanism operatively connected to said transmission, a movable element operatively connected to said governor mechanism capable of being moved by and relative to the speed of said governor mechanism, and a means for connecting said last-mentioned element to said plate element.

4. In combination with an automotive vehicle having a foot feed pedal, a clutch pedal, and a transmission of low", intermediate and high gears, a manually actuatable means for placing said transmission into or out of low gear, a rotatably mounted shaft operatively connected to said transmission for moving said transmission said vehicle, governor mechanism operatively connected to said transmission, a movable element operatively connected to said governor mechanism capable of being moved by and relative to the speed of said governor mechanism, and a means for connecting said last-mentioned element to said plate element.

' 5. In combination with a multiple-speed transmission and a motor having a carburetor control element, a rotatably mounted shaft operatively connected to said transmission for moving said transmission into different gear ratios, a plate element secured to said shaft having depressions in its periphery, a wheel, a means for yieldingly holding said wheel in engagement with any one of said depressions, an actuatable means for moving said wheel out of engagement with said depressions at times, a means for connecting said last-mentioned means to said carburetor control element, a governor mechanism, a means for actuating said governor mechanism at a speed relative to the speed of said transmission, a movable element operatively connected to said governor mechanism capable of being moved by and relative to the speed of said governor mechanism, and

'a means for connecting said last-mentioned element to said plate element.

6. In combination with a multiple-speed transmission and a motor having a carburetor control element, a rotatably mounted shaft operatively connected to said transmission for moving said transmission into different gear ratios, a plate element secured to said shaft having'depressions in its periphery, a wheel, a means for yieldingly holding said wheel in engagement with any one of said depressions, an actuatable means for moving said wheel out of engagement with said depressions at times, a means for connecting said last-mentioned means to said carburetor control element, a governor mechanism, a means for actuating said governor mechanism at a speed relative to the speed of said transmission, and a means for operatively connecting said governor mechanism to said plate element for the rotation of said plate element at times.

'7. In combination with a multiple-speed transmission having a reverse gear, a low" gear, an intermediate" gear, and a high gear, a rotatably mounted shaft operatively connected to said transmission for placing said transmission in low or reverse gear, a. second rotatably mounted shaft operatively connected to said transmission for placing said transmission in intermediate or high gear, an element on said second rotatably mounted shaft having a plurality of depressions, a slidably mounted shaft having one end capable of operatively engaging any one times, a means for operatively connecting said said second-mentioned shaft when said first-mentransmission to said second-mentioned shaft for tioned shaft is moved to a position for placing said the rotation of said shaft at times, a manually transmission in reverse"; said engagement preactutatable means for rotating said first-menventing the rotation of said second-mentioned 5 tioned shaft, and an element on said first-menshaft.

tioned shaft capable of engaging the element on THEODORE F. THOMPSON. 

